The present invention generally relates to an interior rearview mirror assembly and, more particularly, to an interior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle memory mirror system.
Conventional vehicle memory mirror systems typically include one or more exterior mirror assemblies which are equipped with electrically operated motors that provide for repositioning of the mirror assemblies' reflective elements with respect to one or more axes. Particularly for exterior sideview mirrors, it is known to incorporate memory-positioning systems so that a driver of a vehicle may select a desired position of the exterior sideview mirror by simply pushing a button. Less known, but currently available, are memory mirror systems, which include memory positions not only for the exterior sideview mirror assemblies but further, for the interior rearview mirror assembly. Incorporated into each of these mirror assemblies is a drive mechanism, which provides for the memory positions for each of the reflective elements in the mirror assemblies.
Referring to FIG. 6, a conventional interior mirror assembly for a memory mirror system includes a housing with a pivotal portion, such as a casing C, and a fixed portion, such as a mounting arm M, which mounts the casing to a windshield W on, for example a mounting button, as is known in the art. A reflective element assembly R is supported in the pivotal portion or casing by an electrical actuator A. Heretofore, the actuator or drive mechanisms that have been incorporated into these interior rearview mirror assemblies necessarily add weight to the pivotal portion and, further, result in crowding out of other accessories or features which may be incorporated into the interior rearview mirror casing. While such memory mirror systems (which include both exterior and rearview mirror assemblies) are known, they are not widely used. It has been found that the weight of the motor, especially in interior mirror assemblies, has impacted the vibration performance of the mirror assembly. In addition, as the interior rearview mirror assembly has been more recently targeted as a location for storing or holding a multitude of electronic and electrical devices and accessories the space in the interior mirror assembly casing has become more coveted.
For example, interior mirror assemblies now incorporate map lights, displays, videos, and other utility functions, such as described in copending U.S. patent application entitled REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH UTILITY FUNCTIONS, Ser. No. 09/449,121, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,172, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other examples of the various electronic and electrical features now incorporated into interior rearview mirror assemblies include: Video screens, such as disclosed in copending U.S. patent application entitled INTERIOR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING A VIDEO SCREEN, filed Mar. 1, 2000, Ser. No. 60/186,520; microphones and/or speakers, such as disclosed in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,642, and Ser. No. 09/199,907 filed Nov. 25, 1998; sound processing systems, including digital sound processing systems, such as disclosed in U.S. pending application entitled INTERIOR REARVIEW MIRROR SOUND PROCESSING, Ser. No. 09/466,010, filed Dec. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,975, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. Examples of location of such displays and/or user interfaces and/or other accessories such as video screens are disclosed in copending U.S. patent applications entitled INTERIOR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING A VIDEO SCREEN, filed Mar. 1, 2000, Ser. No. 60/186,520; U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,642, and 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998; such as sound processing systems, including digital sound processing systems, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,865 entitled A METHOD FOR INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF SPEECH IN AN AUDIO SIGNAL, issued Sep. 25, 1990, to Stettiner et al. and in co-pending and co-assigned U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/466,010, filed Dec. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,975; Ser. No. 09/396,179, filed Sep. 14, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,975; Ser. No. 09/382,720, filed Aug. 25, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,003; Ser. No. 09/449,121, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,172; Ser. No. 09/433,467, filed Nov. 4, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,613; and Ser. No. 09/448,700, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,925; such as displays, including tire pressure sensor system displays, compass sensors and displays, temperature displays, are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/244,726, filed Feb. 5, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,613, and in U.S. patent application entitled REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH UTILITY FUNCTIONS, Ser. No. 09/449,121, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,172; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,240; such as a communication module is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,688; such as blind spot detection systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,929,786 or 5,786,772; such as transmitters and/or receivers, including garage door openers and a digital network, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,575; such as a memory mirror system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,176; U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,575; U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,321; U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,772; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,367, and in U.S. patent applications entitled MEMORY MIRROR SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES, Ser. No. 09/448,690, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,083; and A VEHICLE REARVIEW MIRROR AND A VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM INCORPORATING SUCH MIRROR, Ser. No. 09/341,450, filed Jul. 8, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,905; such as a hands-free phone attachment, a video device for internal cabin surveillance and/or video telephone function, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962 and 5,877,897 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/433,467, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,613, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/918,772, entitled MODULAR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY, filed Aug. 25, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,886; such as vehicle navigation systems are described in co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 60/131,593, filed Apr. 29, 1999, entitled VEHICLE-BASED NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH SMART MAP FILTERING, PORTABLE UNIT HOME-BASE REGISTRATION AND MULTIPLE NAVIGATION SYSTEM PREFERENTIAL USE; such as map lights, including maps lights incorporating light emitting diodes (including organic light emitting diodes) generating a white light beam, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,321; 5,813,745; 5,820,245; 5,673,994; 5,649,756; 5,178,448; 5,669,698; 5,671,996; 4,733,336; and 4,646,210; such as microphones and/or speakers are disclosed in U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,642, and Ser. No. 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998; such as a compass is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,212; such as GPS displays and systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552 and pending U.S. patent applications entitled COMPLETE MIRROR-BASED GLOBAL-POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) NAVIGATION SOLUTION, filed Mar. 9, 2000, Ser. No. 60/187,960, and entitled VEHICLE-BASED NAVIGATION SYSTEM WITH SMART MAP FILTERING, HANDHELD UNIT HOME-BASE REGISTRATION AND MULTIPLE NAVIGATION SYSTEM PREFERENTIAL USE, Ser. No. 60/131,593, filed Apr. 29, 1999; such as cameras, including video cameras, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,877,897; 5,760,962; 5,959,367; 5,929,786; 5,949,331; 5,914,815; 5,786,772; 5,798,575; and 5,670,935, and pending U.S. patent applications entitled VEHICLE REARVIEW MIRROR DISPLAY SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/304,201, filed May 3, 1999; VEHICLE MIRROR DIGITAL NETWORK AND DYNAMICALLY INTERACTIVE MIRROR SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/375,315, filed Aug. 16, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,198,409; WIDE ANGLE IMAGE CAPTURE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES, Ser. No. 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998; WIDE ANGLE IMAGING SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,642; VEHICLE IMAGING SYSTEM WITH STEREO IMAGING, Ser. No. 09/372,915, filed Aug. 12, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,397; VEHICLE REARVIEW MIRROR DISPLAY SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/300,201, filed May 3, 1999; REARVIEW VISION SYSTEM WITH INDICIA OF BACKUP TRAVEL, Ser. No. 09/313,139, filed May 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,447; and pending U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,642, and Ser. No. 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/433,467 filed Nov. 4, 1999, entitled VEHICLE INTERIOR MIRROR ASSEMBLY, to Patrick Heslin and Niall R. Lynam, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,613; such as headlamp controllers are disclosed in pending U.S. patent application entitled VEHICLE HEADLIGHT CONTROL USING IMAGING SENSOR, Ser. No. 09/441,341, filed Nov. 16, 1999; such as telematic interfaces are disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/918,772, entitled MODULAR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY, filed Aug. 25, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,886; storage and pendant accessories disclosed in U.S. patent application entitled REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY WITH UTILITY FUNCTIONS, Ser. No. 09/449,121, filed Nov. 24, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,172; such as rain sensors, including non-contacting rain sensors, are disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,844 entitled VEHICULAR MOISTURE SENSOR AND MOUNTING APPARATUS THEREFORE, and PCT International Application PCT/US94/05093 entitled MULTI-FUNCTION LIGHT SENSOR FOR VEHICLE, published as WO 94/27262 on Nov. 24, 1994; such as toll pay devices, including automatic toll pay devices, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,520 to Chaum; such as remote transaction devices are disclosed in pending U.S. patent application entitled A VEHICLE MOUNTED REMOTE TRANSACTION INTERFACE SYSTEM, filed Apr. 8, 1998, Serial No. 09/057,428, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,655; such as trip computers, vehicle status displays, air bag activation status displays, instrumentation/console lighting, and other information display/user interface devices are disclosed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/244,726, filed Feb. 5, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,613, the entire disclosures of all the referenced applications, patents, and publications are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
Given the increasing number of components that are desirable in an interior rearview mirror assembly, there has been an increasing need to maximize the available space in the interior rearview mirror assembly. While the weight of the electronic devices do not significantly affect the vibration characteristics of the interior rearview mirror assembly, the increasing number of electronic devices require more and more space. When coupled with the concern for the vibration performance of the interior rearview mirror assemblies of vehicle memory mirror systems, perhaps the disadvantages associated with the weight of the driving mechanism and, furthermore, the crowding out of the space within the casing has discouraged such use of designs.
Consequently, there is a need for an interior rearview mirror assembly that is suitable for a vehicle memory mirror system and yet provides ample space for a multitude of electronic devices or accessories within the casing of the interior rearview mirror assembly while exhibiting reduced vibration as compared to interior rearview mirror assemblies of conventional memory mirror systems.